It’s time once again for our Year in Review, the 29th time we’ve gathered up our headlines from the previous 12 months and tried to sum it all up for you.
Earlier this week, we brought you the “Top Ten Stories of the Year” (here).
We’ll resume our regular NorthEast Radio Watch report with an update on Tuesday, January 3. In the meantime, our own Twitter and Facebook feeds and RadioInsight will be here with any breaking news!
As we do every year, we close out this final installment of our Year in Review with a look at the broadcasters and media people our region lost in the last twelve months. There were, as always, some big blows to the industry – legendary owners such as Cap Cities’ Tom Murphy, WVOX’s Bill O’Shaughnessy and (far too young) Rhode Island’s dynamic Chris DiPaola, beloved local radio voices such as Erie’s “Captain Dan” Geary and Binghamton’s Dana Potter, and so many of the people who toiled behind the scenes to make sure everything stayed on the air and sounded and looked good.
We remember all of them, and all of the contributions they made to our business.
GARY STARR, 86, New York City area radio owner (Nov. 13, 2021)
CHRIS PROSPERO, 52, “Boss Frog” and Big Froggy 101 PD (Dec. 21, 2021)
SCOTT JOHNSON, 53, WHYL morning host (Dec. 24, 2021)
EDWARD ZELLEFROW, 92, engineer and station owner (Dec. 27, 2021)
MARTIN ROSENTHAL, Trumar Broadcasting founder (Dec. 29, 2021)
PAUL “BOOM BOOM” CANNON, 67, Connecticut DJ and PD (Jan. 4)
KENT BOWEN, 86, Butler PA radio reporter (Jan. 5)
BRIAN BLESSING, 64, sports talk host, Sabres’ “Hockey Hotline” host (Jan. 9)
IAN GREENBERG, 79, Astral Media founder (Jan. 10)
MIKE “DEE-JAY” DUBRAY, 49, Regional Radio Group sales executive (Jan. 11)
PETER DICKENS, 92, Canadian morning man (Jan. 15)
SUSAN BRAY, 79, “Saucy Aussie” WWDB host (January)
TOM GEORGE, 75, radio personality, Rochester Amerks announcer (Jan. 16)
BOB WEGE (Bob Vega, Donald Jump), 60, WGTY DJ (Jan. 18)
DONALD LANGE, 100, Buffalo engineer (Jan. 18)
SUZANNE GOUCHER, 67, President and CEO, Maine Association of Broadcasters (Jan. 19)
FRASER KELLY, 87, “Newshour” anchor (Jan. 19)
MICHAEL ZAWACKI (MIKE STEVENS), 62, host and manager (Jan. 23)
BILL ANDERSON, 77, CFMZ classical host (Jan. 25)
DAVE DOUGHTY, 76, Utica engineer (Jan. 25)
DAVID MUGAR, 82, WNEV/WHDH Boston owner (Jan. 25)
TIM “THE BYRDMAN” BYRD, 68, (Jan. 27), DJ, VH1 host (Jan. 27)
HARRY STEELE, 92, Newcap CEO (Jan. 29)
MIKE VICKERS, 68 Rochester DJ (Feb. 1)
GLORIA ROJAS, 82, WABC “Eyewitness News” reporter (Feb. 2)
BETTY BROWN JAGNOW, 92, WFMJ manager/owner (Feb. 4)
JAMES “BARRY” MORGAN, 70, WDDH sportscaster and sales executive (Feb. 4)
ALTON IRWIN (WILLIE B. GOODE), 71, veteran East Coast DJ (Feb. 5)
STEWART HARRISON COXFORD, 95, Radio Richmond Hill partner (Feb. 12)
KEVIN MARKS, 64, CKVR sports anchor (Feb. 22)
DON JOHNSTON, 91, CFRB news director (Feb. 27)
“CAPTAIN DAN” GEARY, 72, Erie radio legend (March 3)
JACK MINDY, 79, WHAM and WGMC host (March)
MISH MICHAELS, 53, Boston meteorologist (March 16)
BOB RALEIGH, 87, WBZ overnight host (March 27)
“BIG AL” WARREN, 87 WICC morning man (March 27)
NAT ASCH, 95, WNEW program director (April 6)
DANA POTTER, 67, Binghamton radio host and operations manager (April 8)
BOB MASON, 73, Albany morning man (April 10)
RON PALMQUIST, 92, WGAN-TV anchor (April 17)
SID MARK, 88, “Fridays with Frank” and “Sounds of Sinatra” host (April 18)
PETER DEAN, 86, WDEV engineer (April 24)
GLORIA LANGSTON, 97, WDKX owner and manager (May 6)
ANDRE ARTHUR, 78, Canadian talk host (May 8)
CHUCK CAMROUX, 81, CKLW President and CEO (May 11)
GINO CAPPELLETTI, 88, Patriots sportscaster (May 12)
ANTOINETTE “TONI” HARBLIN, 92, WWNY radio and TV host (May 15)
DICK RAKOVAN, 83, Capital Cities manager, RAB membership director (May 16)
TED EADINGER, 82, CFPL VP/GM (May 17)
ANDREW KRYSTAL, Toronto radio host (May 17)
KEN SCREVEN, 71, WRGB reporter (May 18)
THOMAS S. MURPHY, 96, Capital Cities CEO (May 25)
WILLIAM O’SHAUGHNESSY, 84, WVOX and WVIP owner (May 27)
SHELBY SCOTT, 86, WBZ reporter, anchor, shop steward (June 4)
TOM MCNALLY, 69, NJ engineer and radio host (June 9)
BARBARA LARUE, New Jersey radio host (June or July)
ROBERT W. KNIGHT, 69, Ottawa radio personality (July 8?)
STEVE SMITH, 62, longtime radio programmer (July 9)
PAUL HANOVER, 96, CHML “Mayor of the Morning” and CTV game show host (July 11)
ERIC COCKS, 73, WKPN “Connections” host (July 13)
DON K. REED, 77, WCBS-FM host, “Doo-Wop Shop” creator and host (July 16)
JUAN ALICEA, 85, Spanish-language voice of Mets (July 18)
“UNCLE” DAVE FISHER, 71, CJAD morning host (July 20)
JIM SENICH, 83, WATR news person (July 21)
LARRY JOSEPHSON, 83, WBAI morning host (July 27)
VIN SCULLY, 94, voice of Dodgers (Aug. 2)
BRUCE SCHWOEGLER, 80, WBZ meteorologist (Aug. 4)
UMA PEMMARAJU, 64, WBZ and Fox News anchor (Aug. 8)
MICHAEL BOURNE, 75, WBGO “Singers Unlimited” host (Aug. 21)
MARK DRISCOLL, 72, Top-40 DJ (Aug. 22)
FRANK BOYLE, 96, station owner and radio broker (Aug. 23)
BILL ONN, 93, CKEY VP of engineering (Aug. 26)
SAM LIT, oldies DJ (August)
WARREN STAM, 64, WHEC director and producer (Sept. 12)
ROBERT FERRANTE, 87, TV news innovator (Sept. 15)
ERIC JACKSON, 72, WGBH jazz host (Sept. 17)
BOB “COUNTRY BOB” GOLD, 90, Maine station owner (Sept. 21)
AL PRIMO, 87, “Eyewitness News” creator (Sept. 29)
GEORGE THOMAS APFEL, 69, Las Vegas radio personality, Entercom engineer (Oct. 1)
BILLY NOSAL, 77, WCCC program director and host (Oct. 2)
BERNARD MCGUIRK, 64, WABC “Bernie And Sid” cohost (Oct. 5)
CHRIS DIPAOLA, 49, RI station owner (Oct. 12)
SANDI KLEIN, 73, WINS anchor (Oct. 14)
DAVE SAVIET, 66, CBS Radio Network (Oct. 22)
DON BRAKE, 52, Cumulus operations manager (Oct. 25)
STEVEN SEGAL (STEVE SEAGULL), 76, WBCN veteran (Oct. 29)
JOHN “JT” THOMAS, 54, radio manager (Nov. 12)
DICK PLEASANTS, 75, Boston folk music host (Nov. 8)
MICHAEL KING, 53, WBZ traffic reporter (Nov. 24)
DAVID REDPATH (SMOKIN’ WILLIE B., JOE MAMA), 59, CT, PA radio host (Nov. 26)
BRAD SMITH, 62, WXXI newsman (Nov. 28)
B.J. FORSYTH, 46, Pittsburgh radio host (Dec. 4)
BOB BARRICKMAN, 67, Beaver County PA sportscaster (Dec. 6)
Behold, the 2025 calendar!
We chose the 100,000-watt transmitter of the Voice Of America in Marathon, right in the heart of the Florida Keys. This picture has everything we like in our covers — blue skies, greenery, water, and of course, towers! The history behind this site is a draw, too.
Other months feature some of our favorite images from years past, including some Canadian stations and several stations celebrating their centennials (can you guess? you don’t have to if you buy the calendar!).
We will ship daily through Christmas Eve. Place your order now for immediate shipping!
This will be the 24th edition of the world-famous Tower Site Calendar, and your support will determine whether it will be the final edition.
It’s been a complicated few years here, and as we finish up production of the new edition, we’re considering the future of this staple of radio walls everywhere as we evaluate our workload going forward.
The proceeds from the calendar help sustain the reporting that we do on the broadcast industry here at Fybush Media, so your purchases matter a lot to us here – and if that matters to you, now’s the time to show that support with an order of the new Tower Site Calendar. (And we have the new Broadcast Historian’s Calendar for 2025 ready to ship, too. Why not order both?)
Visit the Fybush Media Store and place your order now for the next calendar, get a great discount on previous calendars, and check out our selection of books and videos, too!
In this week’s issue… WBUR backs off local talk - EMF's expansion in NY, nationally - Rochester broadcasters honored - Russell finds new PA radio home - Remembering Bruce Stevens - The new calendar's here!
In this week’s issue… Remembering WNY's Palvino, Harris - Will King sell Bangor stations? - Kay moves earlier - New signal on LI - Cumulus cuts hit PA, New England - Frizzell sells in NH
In this week’s issue… Saluting a small-town radio vet - Bell moves CP24 - Scott heads west - Burlington gets Air 1, "Experimental Radio" - Family Life heads down I-86
In this week’s issue… NY TV anchor, radio historian both retiring - XPN PD to retire - More Cumulus cuts - Rogers sells FMs as Corus makes big talent cuts By SCOTT FYBUSH Jump to: ME - NH - VT - MA...
